The big ideas
Concept Network The world's religions converge on a handful of great ideas — soul, salvation, karma, judgement. Tap any concept to see the traditions that hold it and the ideas that connect to it.
Soul The enduring self — eternal, reborn, or judged.
Salvation Rescue from sin, death, or ignorance.
Sacrifice The offering that bridges human and divine.
Enlightenment Direct awakening to the nature of reality.
Judgement The accounting of a life after death.
Nonviolence Ahimsa — refusing harm to any being.
Mysticism Direct, often ineffable union with the divine.
Monotheism One God, one source of all.
Polytheism Many gods, many faces of the sacred.
Reincarnation Return of the soul in new bodies.
Karma Action and its consequences across lives.
Liberation Release from the cycle of suffering.
Heaven Paradise — reward of the righteous.
Hell Punishment or separation from the good.
Sin The violation of divine or cosmic law.
Meditation Disciplined cultivation of insight.
Prayer Speech addressed to the divine.
Fasting Self-denial as devotion or purification.
Pilgrimage Sacred journey to a holy place.